Beartooth

Beartooth is one of those bands that really gets people talking. Packed with an absolutely ridiculous live show, this band is picking up some serious traction, and FAST. I sat down with guitarists Kamron and Taylor to get a better understanding of one of 2014's hottest rock acts. Pay attention.

First off, introduce yourself and what you do in the band

Kamron: I’m Kamron and I play guitar.

Taylor: I’m Taylor and I also play guitar.

What are your thoughts on being on Warped Tour so far?

Kamron: It’s the best tour there is…

Taylor: So many friends just hanging out, it’s like a summer camp for bands.

What bands have you seen so far?

Taylor: I love watching Every Time I Die and Real Friends. There’s this band called Plague Vendor that’s on Kevin Says – awesome band, weird band, but that’s why I love them.

Kamron: State Champs…I hadn’t seen The Ghost Inside until the other day, and they killed it.

Taylor: I think I’ve seen Stray From The Path every day, except for today.

What can fans expect from your set on this tour?

Kamron: Craziness

Taylor: Us doing as many dumb things as humanly possible, without being in trouble.

Yeah, I hear that your set is well marked as being wild and crazy.

Taylor: We had to tone it down for Warped, there’s some things we’re not allowed to do here. They kind of made that clear to us. It’s kind of awkward, I feel like our reputation proceeds us now…

Which is a good thing. The same thing happened with letlive. last year on this same stage…

Taylor: But they just let us know “Hey, as long as you don’t do these things, do whatever you want” So we’re like “Works for us!”

What is your take on the “No Moshing” signs that are posted on each of the stages?

Taylor: Actually, Keith from Every Time I Die said it the best way the other day – he pointed out the sign and said “That sign is there out of respect for Warped Tour, we don’t anyone to get hurt, but we don’t get hurt here because we’re family and we take care of each other. Have fun, mosh, do whatever you want, but take care of each other.”

I think it’s interesting, since for some people, Warped is their first concert experience – maybe they’re 14 or 15 years old, and they don’t really know the etiquette involved.

Taylor: There was a fight during Stray From The Path the other day, and they stopped playing completely, and Drew called them out and told them to leave.

Let’s talk about your debut album, Disgusting. How’s it feel to finally have it out?

Kamron: We’ve been sitting on it for awhile, so we’re like “When is it coming out!”

Taylor: We’re so used to all the songs, and we’ve been trying to keep it lower key…it’s been great, it’s been very unexpected. We didn’t think it would have as crazy of a debut as it did.

What has been your favorite song to play live on this tour?

Taylor: “Body Bag”

Kamron: “Body Bag” is probably my favorite song, I want to play it so bad. We’d have to do guitar changes…

So if you had time to add one more song to the set, it’d be that one?

Kamron: Yeah definitely.

What do you love about that song in particular?

Kamron: It’s just so fast and unrelenting. There’s really no stops at all, it just keeps going.

Taylor: “Dead” is also a big favorite of mine…

Kamron: Yeah, I love playing that song live.

I love “I Have A Problem”, but that’s a song you’ve had since Day 1…

Taylor: Yeah, that song and “Set Me On Fire” we’ve played every single show.

What song do you feel gets the biggest crowd response?

Kamron: “I Have A Problem” and “Beaten In Lips”

Yeah, you guys just recently put out a new video for “Beaten In Lips”, how’d that concept come together?

Taylor: Drew Russ just wanted to do a video based on the lyrics in the song.

Kamron: We got some other ideas from other people, and they were just awful…

Taylor: Outrageous…

What was the worst idea you guys got from that batch?

Kamron: We can’t say his name, but this guy said he wanted to do an idea that involved kids chaining up their parents and have them fight each other…

Taylor: Like Gladiator/Mad Max/Thunderdome…

Kamron: And at the end, he’s like “We can make it darker too…” And we’re like “NO! It’s too dark already!”

Taylor: We went with Drew’s take on the video because it really just touched on what the song is about.

Kamron: He hit the nail on the head.

And that’s a good point, especially since you guys want to be taken seriously as a band.

Taylor: We do and we don’t. We want people to know that what we talk about is serious, but that you don’t have to come to our shows and not have fun.

At the same time, I don’t think people particularly took Attack! Attack! All that seriously sometimes. I think Caleb is really enjoying himself with this new band, you guys are definitely vibing and doing well.

Taylor: We’ve all just been friends for a really long time, and me, Caleb and Brandon have toured together for years now. Now we’ve been on the road with Brandon and Oshie for a year now, so we’ve all been friends.

Kamron: Me and Oshie were in the same band for two or three years.

Red Bull Records – why them specifically?

Taylor: They were just the coolest dudes. When we first met them, they didn’t really talk to us about music or what they wanted to do with our band, they just got to know us as people and we got to know them. One of the guys down there, his name’s Tick, he’s a very good friend of mine now. They take care of every single band on their label, not just us. They maintain the relationships with their bands, it’s not like “Okay, here’s the money, do your record, we’ll put it out…”

What can we expect from you guys in the Fall?

Taylor: We have a fall tour with one of the bands that’s on this tour…

Are they a band on the Monster stage?

Taylor: Yeah, they’re a band on the Monster stage, they’re good friends of ours.

Any other music videos or anything else coming out soon?

Taylor: We’re actually shooting a music video for “The Lines”

Why that song?

Kamron: It’s one of our favorites.

Taylor: Yeah, that song, “Body Bag”, “Beaten In Lips” were big favorites of ours, so we just wanted to make sure those were the “big” songs off the album.

Kamron: And we’ve been playing The Lines live for awhile, and it’s starting to pick up steam. It was one of the first songs we’ve released off the album.

Let’s pretend that we’re at the very end of 2014 – looking back, what would’ve happened to make it a successful year?

Taylor: We died on stage…

Kamron: Rocking too hard.

Taylor: That’s a life-goal for all of us. If we didn’t die on stage, then we didn’t play hard enough. It’s a very common theme.

So basically Beartooth is officially DONE at the end of the year, haha.

Kamron: Yes. If not, then we’ve failed ourselves.

Taylor: And then we just gotta try again in 2015, haha.

Any other last words before we wrap up?

Kamron: I’d just like to thank anyone that supported the album, and every kid that’s in our crowds, especially on Warped…skipping other good bands just to watch us. It’s been a good response.